Global Justice
WF 2:20-3:40
Fall Semester, 2013
Ohio State University
Benjamin McKean
Course Description
Is it possible to achieve global justice? What would such a world look like and what does this tell
us about how to live today in our own unjust world? These important questions motivate this
political theory course about the possibility of justice between states and among the people of the
world. To show that these questions are not idle or utopian, the course examines particular issue
areas relevant to political debates today. Specifically, we will ask about how states should
conduct their foreign policy in an unjust world, including decisions about war and humanitarian
intervention, and students will be asked to apply relevant theories to cases including Iraq, Libya,
and Syria. We will investigate whether the world’s cultural diversity should change what we
expect of other peoples as well as the role that global environmental issues should play in
international politics. Special attention is paid to the question of poverty and global inequality
and students will be asked to reflect on how these issues bear on the choices that they face as
citizens and political actors.
Required Texts
Most of the readings for this course will be available as online e-reserve files, but the following
books are required and should be available for purchase at the OSU bookstores:
Michael Walzer, Just and Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument with Historical Illustrations
(4th edition; New York: Basic Books, 2006)
Immanuel Kant, To Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch (Trans. Ted Humphrey;
Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2003)
International Ethics: A Philosophy & Public Affairs Reader (Eds. Charles R. Beitz,
Marshall Cohen, Thomas Scanlon, and A. John Simmons; Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1990)
Course Policies
Academic Misconduct
It is the responsibility of the Committee on Academic Misconduct to investigate or establish
procedures for the investigation of all reported cases of student academic misconduct. The term
“academic misconduct” includes all forms of student academic misconduct wherever committed;
illustrated by, but not limited to, cases of plagiarism and dishonest practices in connection with
examinations. Instructors shall report all instances of alleged academic misconduct to the
committee (Faculty Rule 3335-5-487). For additional information, see the Code of Student
Conduct: http://studentaffairs.osu.edu/resource_csc.asp
Disabilities
Students with disabilities that have been certified by the Office for
Disability Services will be appropriately accommodated, and should
inform the instructor as soon as possible of their needs. The Office for
Disability Services is located in 150 Pomerene Hall, 1760 Neil Avenue;
telephone 292-3307; TDD 292-0901; http://www.ods.ohiostate.edu
Learning Objectives
Students who successfully complete this course should expect to acquire knowledge of the
history of international political thought; the tradition of just war thinking; cosmopolitanism; and
normative issues about climate change, international diversity, human rights practice, global
poverty, and global governance. They should also acquire the following skills: knowing how to
read for normative argument; knowing how to make a normative argument; critical thinking
about justice, including what it consists in and what obligations it entails; critical thinking about
particular issue areas, including ability to make use of the concepts of the just war tradition; and
the ability to apply these concepts to particular cases.
Course Requirements
Grades will be based on two short essays of about 1,500-2,000 words (30% each) and a final
exam (30%). Class attendance and active participation in our discussions make up the final 10%
of your grade.
Grading Criteria
To make my method of grading easier to understand, here is a summary of the criteria that I will
apply. Note that each level assumes the merits of the previous levels.
A
Argument is clear, sophisticated, and persuasive. Writing is elegant and consistently
illuminates the author’s meaning and intention.
A-/B+ Shows a strong grasp of the text and contains original insights. Arguments are persuasive
and well-organized, writing is clear and shows some stylistic flair.
B
Addresses the question and presents a clear and plausible argument. Writing is clear and
readable.
B-/C+ Tends mostly toward summary and/or does not address the question adequately. Writing
is competent but with flaws in style and grammar.
C
Fails to make a clear argument. Texts are poorly or superficially interpreted. Poor
writing and organization often obscure the meaning.
D+/D So poorly argued, written and organized as to be difficult to understand.
Late Work
Papers will be penalized 1/3 of a grade for each day they are late (ie, a B+ becomes a B).
Extensions will be granted only in the case of documented illnesses or personal emergencies. I
do not accept papers more than 3 days late.
Course Schedule:
Week 1: What is a State?
Wed 8/21
Introductory Lecture
Fri 8/23
Thucydides, The Melian Conference, from The History of the Peloponnesian War
bk. V, paragraphs 84-116, pages 35-357
Excerpt from Max Weber, ‘Politics as a Vocation’, pages 32-49
Total pages: 24
Week 2: How Must States Relate?
Wed 8/28
Immanuel Kant, To Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch
Fri 8/30
Kant, To Perpetual Peace (continued)
Total pages for the week: 42
Week 3: Just War I - Concepts and History
Wed 9/4
Michael Walzer, Just and Unjust Wars, Chapters 2-3 (pages 21-47)
Fri 9/6
Walzer, Just and Unjust Wars, Chapters (pages 51-74)
Total pages for the week: 49
Week 4: Just War II - Intervention
Wed 9/11
David Luban, “Just War and Human Rights” in IE, 195-216
Fri 9/13
Walzer, “The Moral Standing of States” (1980), in IE, 217-37
Luban, “The Romance of the Nation–State” (1980), in IE, 238–43
Total pages for the week: 46
Week 5: Just War III - Applications
Wed 9/18
Walzer: Just and Unjust Wars, Chapters 5-6 (pages 74-109)
Fri 9/20
Fri 9/20
The Iraq Study Group Report: Executive Summary and Part I (Assessment).
The National Security Strategy of the United States (March 2006)
(cont) Daniel L. Byman, Michael Doran, Kenneth M. Pollack and Salman Shaikh
“Saving Syria: Assessing Options for Regime Change,” Brookings Middle East
Memo No. 21
Total pages for the week: 60
Week 6: The Theory and Practice of Human Rights
Mon 9/23
First Paper Due
Wed 9/25
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)
Joshua Cohen, “Minimalism About Human Rights: The Most We Can Hope
For?” Journal of Political Philosophy 12, 2 (2004), pages 190-213
Fri 9/27
Charles Beitz, “Human Rights as a Common Concern,” American Political
Science Review 95, 2 (June 2001), pp. 269-282.
Total pages for the week: 30
Week 7: Human Rights and Cultural Diversity
Wed 10/2
Daniel A. Bell, “The East Asian Challenge to Human Rights: Reflections on an
East West Dialogue” Human Rights Quarterly Vol. 18 No. 3 (1996), pages 641667 [e-reserve]
Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im, “Universality of Human Rights: An Islamic
Perspective,” in Japan and International Law, pages 311-25 [e-reserve]
Fri 10/4
Susan Moller Okin, “Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women?” and responses by Will
Kymlicka, Yael Tamir, Bhiku Parekh, and Homi Bhabha in Is Multiculturalism
Bad for Women? (Princeton University Press, 1999), pages 7-27, 31-34, 47-52,
69-75, 79-84 [e-reserve]
Total pages for the week: 70
Week 8: Justice and the Environment
Wed 10/9
Simon Caney, “Cosmopolitan Justice, Responsibility, and Global Climate
Change” Leiden Journal of International Law Vol 18 No 4 (2005), pages 747-775
Garret Hardin, “The Tragedy of the Commons” Science Vol. 162 (1968), pages
1243-1248 [e-reserves]
Fri 10/13
Peter Singer: One World, ch.2 (pages 14-50)
Total pages for the week: 70
Week 9: Global Government? Global Governance?
Wed 10/16
David Held, “Cosmopolitanism: Globalization Tamed?” Review of International
Studies Vol. 29 (2003), 465-80 [e-reserve]
Fri 10/18
Robert Dahl, “Can International Organizations Be Democratic? A Skeptic’s
View,” in I. Shapiro and C. Hacker-Cordon, eds. Democracy's Edges, pp. 19-36
Total pages for the week: 32
Week 10: Poverty and Inequality I - Extreme Poverty
Wed 10/23
Amartya Sen, Development as Freedom, Chapter 4 (pages 87-110)
Fri 10/25
Thomas Pogge, “‘Assisting’ the Global Poor,” in The Ethics of Assistance, 260-88
Mattias Risse, “Do We Owe the Global Poor Assistance or Rectification?,” Ethics
& International Affairs 19:1 (2005), 9-18
Total pages for the week: 60
Week 11: Poverty and Inequality II - Inequality
Wed 10/30
Thomas Nagel, “The Problem of Global Justice,” Philosophy & Public Affairs 33
(2005), 113-47 [e-reserve]
Fri 11/1
Joshua Cohen and Charles Sabel, “Extra Rempublicam Nulla Justitia?,”
Philosophy & Public Affairs 34 (2006), 147-75 [e-reserve]
Total pages for the week: 64
Week 12: Poverty and Inequality III - Colonialism and Imperialism
Mon 11/4
Second Paper Due
Wed 11/6
Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, excerpt from Chapter 9 (pages
290-304)
Fri 11/8
Lea Ypi, Robert E. Goodin, and Christian Barry, “Associative Duties, Global
Justice and the Colonies” Philosophy & Public Affairs 37 (2009), 103-135
Total pages for the week: 46
Week 13: Poverty and Inequality IV - Applications
Wed 11/13
Margaret Keck and Kathryn Sikkink, Activists Beyond Borders (Cornell UP,
1998), Chapter 1 (pages 1-38)
Fri 11/15
Iris Marion Young, “Responsibility and Global Justice: A Social Connection
Model” Social Philosophy and Policy 23 (2006):102-130
Pew Case Study: “Sweating the Swoosh: Nike, the Globalization of Sneakers,
and the Question of Sweatshop Labor.”
Total pages for the week: 75
Week 14: What’s Next?
Wed 11/20
Jürgen Habermas, “The European Nation State: On the Past and Future of the
European Nation State,” from The Inclusion of the Other (pages 105-128)
Except from Carl Schmitt, The Concept of the Political (pages 19-27)
Total pages for the week: 32
Fri 11/22
Final Session Review
Final Exam – Exam Week 12/5-12/11